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It's not up there with the best shooters released, but I still think it has it's charm. Maybe I'm just a retro junkie, but I actually like the game. There is nothing revolutionary about it in any way, but there is still something that makes me like it. Can't specify what though.

Interesting to hear about the differences in the prototype version of ASO II. Thanks for
sharing this info and posting a video Glowsquid. I think it would definitely be worth adding in those other small differences you mentioned.

I'm still not really a big fan of ASO II. A decent game with an interesting gameplay system but there are lots of superior (IMO) vertical shooters out there I would much rather spend the time on e.g. Varth, Cyvern, Battle Bakraid, Vasara, Air Gallet etc.

Mechanics:
*The player ship has a vastly lower firerate and a bigger hitbox.
*The K item is a ship pickup (obtained by shooting the purple, negative ship powerups) instead of a ground item.
*The Warp and Reverse items don't work.
*The C/skull head powerdown is more dangerous. In the final build, it simply remove whatever armor you have currently equipped while here, it depowers you down completely AND remove all armors in your stock.

Assets:
*The stage 1, boss and first half of stage 2 themes are completely different and do not appear in the final build.
*Most enemies have different coloring and lacks minor details, with some (such as the second Stage 1 midboss) diverging more from the final build.
*The Shop screen background is completely different

That's interesting that most of the things they changed seemed to be to make the game easier. Maybe this was when the proper game testing started, and before it was just programmers and game designers playing their own game, and not realising how hard it was to anyone new.

I do quite like Alpha Mission but I find it over-complicated with the way the pickups work in 3 stages that you must collect in the right-order and with all the icons you can get, it does take a while before you learn the system. I think i would have been happier if they had removed the upside down icons and had one less speed up - I think you can pick up 4 and the last one makes you too fast.

Riko: Haha i actually didn't know that. I am a fairbit colourblind. Need to find a more masculine game to play now. btw what colour is player 2?

sorry Riko there i can't help you cuz i never played it with two players although as i remember you can choose from two ships in the single player mode but for some reason they both are PINK haha i guess the 2 player one would be red haha jk (i really don't know)

Ok, so, I didn't ever play this one back when it was being discussed. I did, however, end up buying it in a PSN sale at some point for a couple of quid, as it's a game I've always liked the looks of (looks Toaplan like imo).

However, I really didn't get along with it. As Glowsquid has already elaborated on some time ago, the power up system is overly complex and requires a lot of figuring out. Rather annoying.

Also, I was completely put off by the fact that your power ups had lifebars of their own, expiring eventually after use. Which sucks

Also, I was completely put off by the fact that your power ups had lifebars of their own, expiring eventually after use.

For what it's worth, I find that aspect much more manageable when choosing the 2nd control configuration (missiles on B instead of both it and lasers being binded to the same button), since it lets you bomb ground targets without wasting ammo for most of the armor types. Some armors (such as Nuke) somewhat benefit from the first control config, but not most.

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